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Hazardous Materials Packaging Case Study

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PKG 477 Case Study
Hazardous Materials Packaging Case Study v5.5

Tech Island Industries, LLC

Background: You are a packaging services supplier active in a number of segments of the packaging industry, including hazardous materials (dangerous goods) packaging. One of the services you provide to customers is the situational review or audit of the customer’s hazmat packaging operations. This service is especially useful for those companies that only ship hazmat occasionally and do not have dedicated hazmat packaging developers. Included in these services is the ability to develop packaging for your customer’s needs and to develop sources for the packaging. For the current situation, one of your customers needs a situational review and package concepts only, not a detailed design. The current situation is as follows:

Your client, Tech Island Industries, is a medium-sized division of a larger corporation business with a successful 10 year history, and recently started a group in Iceland and changed their name from
EnergyBest. Tech Island has sales of approximately $85 million per year, is profitable and growing slowly, even in challenging financial times. Tech Island is conservatively and independently managed and has often stated that they want to do a good job of packaging and compliance with those few hazmat products that they ship. Hazmat products make up a relatively small share of the company’s business, but do serve as a line-filler, so they want to stay in the business, even expand it somewhat in the future. Compliance with regulations is of principal importance, and packaging cost a significant but secondary consideration.

Tech Island is a manufacturer of several lines of products sold exclusively to other businesses. Tech Island does not currently sell in retail markets or sell to consumers, only Business-to-Business (B2B). One group makes specialty electronic displays for industrial applications. Another group makes small, benchtop test equipment. Their market is largely the same for both groups, i.e., industrial firms and industrial distributors. As part of this Display Group, Tech Island sells a liquid chemical that is applied on the electronic displays to reduce electronic arcing and static problems in industrial environments. Tech Island does not sell much of this product; however it is a key part of the whole product line since it insures that certain other products will work correctly. Customers want to have one source for the displays and chemicals so they can have confidence they will work correctly together. International markets are projected to increase in importance for this business in the future, but at this point we are concerned only with domestic US shipment of products. Mode of transportation is highway only, no other mode. Tech Island does not now use small parcel carriers, although that might change in the future.

Tech Island wants to introduce a new coating product, brand name StatOut that is usable for a number of different static reducing jobs, both on displays and elsewhere. According to the Safety Data Sheet for this new product, which has been confirmed as correct, the material is identified as:

• Proper shipping name (Column 2 entry): Coating solution
• Identification Number: UN1139
• Packing Group: PG I
• Specific Gravity 1.0

Tech Island would like to initially market StatOut in two sizes; 1 liter and 35 liters. These sizes have proven to fit customers’ needs in the past. While in the past several package forms have been used, this new product is not required by Tech Island to be in the same package as used before. In fact, they see some significant advantage to having a package different than in the past. So past packages are not a consideration in this case.

Here’s what you need to do:

Start by reading the Case Study carefully. Consider the situation and decide on a course of action. Your job is to make recommendations to Tech Island based on your knowledge of the situation and the regulations. The following tasks should be performed and their associated deliverables should be developed. Use current resources (49 CFR, etc.) in all cases. The deliverables will form your report and be evaluated for a grade. What you know is important, not an opinion. To avoid losing points for formatting, use the following number system when you prepare your report.

  1. Review the situation. Deliverable: Short situation summary, just a few sentences.
  2. Check the product information. Does it make sense; is it possible for a material to be as described? Deliverable: Product information and your reaction. If the information is suspect in any way, include your comments, but continue the case study using information provided.
  3. Packaging possibilities. With the information at hand, investigate the regulatory limitations and opportunities. What Special Provisions apply? What Exceptions apply? What packagings are authorized for non-bulk? Using this information, select two alternative package types for this product, for each size, described in terms of inner and outer, if applicable, and material types selected. In other words, this could be as many as four different package types (two alternatives for each of two sizes, all different). These selections are two possible ways to package this product within the regulations. Select one of these two alternatives for each size to use for the rest of the case study, the first choice. Deliverable: Description of your results; what provisions, exceptions, authorizations exist (don’t list all authorizations, but indicate specifically where a list may be found). Describe the two alternatives you selected and the first choice of those for continued analysis. Be practical in your selections; don’t include poor choices just because they are technically allowed. (If you want to select glass ampules in a titanium box you should understand what this means.) Following is an illustration of this Deliverable in table form, although you are not required to do a table (this table for illustration only, may or may not be correct or even possible answers.).

Size (liter) Alternative 1 Alternative 2 First Choice
1 Stainless steel drum Wooden barrel Wooden barrel
35 Combination plywood box and glass ampoule Multiwall plastic bag Multiwall plastic bag

  1. Size considerations. What are the implications of the two preferred sizes? If the sizes now offered were to be changed, are new packaging opportunities created? What are your recommendations? Deliverable: Describe the implications of size and your recommendations and why you recommend these sizes, whether changed or not. Do any new ways of shipping the product become available by a size change? (Hint: we’re not interested in your opinion here. We are interested in what opportunities or limitations result from package size within the regulations.)
  2. Package design. Using your first choice of package types from above, describe a package for each first choice size currently used (1, 35). If your first choice is not applicable to all sizes, then describe a package for each of the two sizes. Deliverable: A brief description of two packages. Include your assumptions for inner packaging if you think it may be required (cushioning, etc.). This is not a detailed design with dimensions and specifications, just a brief but complete package description.
  3. Labeling and marking. For the two sizes now used, determine what labeling and marking is required, if any. This includes POP marking (un in circle) if required, other marking, including marking for different modes of transit, marking related to the state of matter for product (liquid, solid, gas), PSN and other. Deliverable: Document the labeling and marking for each of the two package sizes. Include information on colors, sizes and locations if in the regulations.
  4. Test plan. Make up a test plan for one of the two sizes. Include capability tests, if applicable. Include inner container tests and material tests, if applicable. Do not include material compatibility tests. If drop and/or stack tests are required, briefly detail them (conditioning, drop heights, orientations, weights, times). If additional information such as vapor pressure is not available, then just list the test without details. Weights and dimensions may be estimated if required. Deliverable: Test plan for one size. When will retest be required, if at all?
  5. Assume your design passed the certification tests required, if any.
  6. Finalize. Deliverable: Any additional comments or recommendations for the implementation phase. 10. Training: Prepare a brief training plan for Tech Island as a hazmat employer. Deliverable: Outline format, covering the major topics to be included in training for designated hazmat employees, and a brief discussion of each.

Some hints in writing your case study:

  1. A common question is, “How long should the paper be?” The answer is, as long as it takes to present a good and complete answer. The length is really your choice. In general, it would be difficult to answer this case in a page or two. At the same time, it certainly doesn’t require twenty or thirty pages. Estimated time to complete the case study is also a variable by individuals. Some students will spend 2-6 hours, but this will vary widely.
  2. The outline above should very, very strongly guide your organization and presentation of the case study paper, otherwise you will lose points for formatting. The Deliverables are all listed in order and with numbers. Use this outline form to your best advantage. Points will be assigned to each outline deliverable equally, 1 through 10 as listed above.
  3. Do not “pad” your case with unnecessary detail, or copy and paste from the Unit materials or websites or from the regulations. This is intellectually dishonest. If you don’t know, look through the materials, look at the regulations and formulate an answer in your own words. You can use references and identify them, but they are not necessary except as noted above.
  4. Do your own work – period. This is NOT a collaborative project, it is an individual project. If you have questions about the consequences of academic dishonesty, please review the MSU website for details.
  5. Don’t forget your name on the paper.
  6. The time deadline is solid. There are defined deadlines for grades submission that force this. Late submissions will be scored zero. If you have issues, contact the instructor in advance. If running later, cover yourself by submitting what you have done well before the deadline then another version later. Your last submission will be the one graded.

If you have questions during the case study period, email the instructor, but don’t wait until the last minute. When you have completed your case study deliverable report, drop it in the Drop Box provided. Format can be text file (txt), MS Word (doc, docx) or compatible file, PowerPoint file (ppt), pdf file, or other (check first if an unusual format). No files without extension. No *.pages files.

Time to pull it all together and show what you know. Good luck!

 
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